US Users Ignorant about Cyber Security

Nearly 87% of American users think that they have anti-virus security fixed on their PCs, but a regular inspection of their systems revealed that just 52% of the machines had a recently modified (in September 2007) anti-virus program. This fact was disclosed during a survey conducted by the McAfee Inc. and National Cyber Security Alliance (NCSA).

Moreover, the study disclosed that although 70% of the responders declared that they had anti-spyware program, just 55% of them really own them. And whilst 27% users professed to have an anti-phishing security, barely 12% truly had them.

According to the reports in the October 1, 2007 edition of PCWorld, McAfee's Vice President of worldwide consumer marketing, Bari Abdul, said that at the moment, the users are in a state of illusory security.

Close to 78% of users don't have a complete system of anti-spyware, firewall, and anti-virus programs. Also, out of the 81% who do have a firewall set up on their PCs, just 64% have actually made it functional.

The October 1, 2007 issue of PCWorld reports that the latest trouble seems to be plaguing the users, as indicated by the US Federal Trade Commission's (FTC) chairwoman Deborah Platt Majoras, is phising strikes wherein the users get e-mails that resemble from their bank, charge card or other business purveyors. The mails request the receivers to click open a link to update their confidential details. The phishing scam could, by and large, be checked once more users were informed about the identity-theft fraud.

During the McAfee/NCSA study, 75% of responders stated that they knew about phishing, however just 54% of them could explain it properly. About 44% of responders believed they had adware or spyware fixed on their PCs.

These outcomes reveal a pressing need to instruct users regarding cyber security, stated Ron Teixeira, National Cyber Security Alliance's Executive Director, as reported by Informationweek on October 2, 2007. So they're asking users before going online to spend some time to discover better methods of safeguarding their identities, PCs and their country's infrastructure from online attacks.